Improvement in knitting-machine needles



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. M. ARMOUR, OF ORAFTSBURY, VERMONT.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNlTTlNG-MACHINE NEEDLES.

Specification forming partcf Letters Patent No. 52,256, dated January30, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. M. A1tMOUR,of Crafts;v

, needle for forming-a new stitch and also as a stitch-holder or, inother words, providing the needle with a device for securely locking andholding the stitch on the needle.

To 'enable others skilled in the art`to construct and use my invention,I will proceed to describe it.

I rst construct a needle with a hook, a., at its point or outer end, asshown in the several tigures ot' the drawings. This hook is for thepurpose of receiving the thread and drawing it through the loop orstitch previously formed. I then attach to this needle a stitch-holder,b, which may consist of a sliding piece fitted either within or upon thebody of the needle,

as shown in Figs. l, 2, and et, and arrun ged to slide to and fro withinor upon the needle.

1t will be observed that the front end of the stitch-holder b is made ofsuch a width vertically that-when it is shoved forward, as shown inFigs. Zand 4, its upper edge shall come iiu'sh with the upper edge ofthe hook a, whereby the thread held by the hook c will be securelylocked therein, .and at the same time the upper surface of b will form abridge upon which the previous stitch or loop may ride o" over the hook,and thus be carried over the new stitch, or, in other words, the stich@will be held upon the piece b, while the new stitch c will be drawnthrough c and the latter then thrown oile the needle.

' Fig. 3 represents a modification of the same device, the-holder b inthat case being` pivoted to the needle in such a manner that when downits front endl shall rest either in a recess in the shank ofv the needleor by its side, so that the upper surface of b shall come flush with theinner portion or surface, z', of

the hook' a, and thereby form a continuous Smooth surface, upon whichthe old or previous stitchc may ride up as the needle is thrust forwardto receive the thread for forming the new stitch e. When this has beendone the rear end ofjthe holderfb is depressed, by which movement itsouter en d is thrown up, as shown in red, whereby-it is made to lock thestitch c securely in the hook, and at the same time form a bridge uponwhich the previous stitch cwill be made to ride over the new stitch orloop e as the needle is drawn back, drawing the stitch c through c, thelatter being thrown ott the needle as before.

W'hen the latter style ot'needle is used a spring, o, may be located asshown. in Fig. 3, for the purpose of holding the front end of b down inposition while the needle is being moved forward to receive the newstitch Ae,loy which movement ot' the needle the stitch c is shoved up onthe needle, as shown. A cam, h, may be so located that, when the needleis drawn back after receiving the thread for the stitch e, the rear endof b shall be depressed thereby, thus throwing up the front end ot' band completing the operation of drawing the loop e through c andthrowing the latter oli', as already` described.

NVhen the style ot' needle shown in Figs. l and el is used the requiredmotions of the needle and the holder may be given by cams working in thenotches Z l, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be observed that the notches in the holder b are wider thanthose in the needle, so that if a cam were moving therein it would movethe needle forward until the face of the cam should strike against thefaceof the notch in the holder b, when both the holder and the needlewould be moved together. In reversing the motion the same result wouldbe produced, the portion containing the small notch being moved firstand then both together. The distance that the needle should move firstshould be sutlicient to move it forward until the frontend of the holderb should be covered by the stem of the needle, so that as the two shallthen move forward together, the front end of the holder b should form noobstruction to the sliding of the stitch c upon the shank ot' theneedle. In reversing the motion of the needle it would rst be moved backfar enough to bring theinner end of the hook in -contact with the end ofholder b, and then both-Would I continue the movement backward farenough to draw the loop e through c and throw the latter entirely oft'the needle.

In Fig. 4 a spring is shown applied to the holder to move it up and lockthe thread e in the hook a, the remaining movements being imparted bycams suitably arranged.

In Fig. 2 theholder Z is shown provided With a projection arranged toimpinge against a fixed piece, d, for the purpose of retarding themovement of b while thev needle makes the irst part of its movementforwardto receive the thread for the new stitch e, the previous stitch criding up on the needle over the holder b, as the needle and holder areboth carried forward together during the latter part of its forwardmovement. On the return movement of the needle the projection of theholder b hits against the cam d, whereby the movement of the holder isretarded until the hook is brought in contact with it, thus locking thestitch e in and forming a bridge upon which the stitch'c rides oi theend of the needle over e.'

It is obvious thata great variety of mechanical devices may be used toimpart to the needles the requisite movements, the forego ing beingintended simply to illustrate some of the methods, it being understoodthat I do not limit myself 'to these methods.

Having thus fully-described my invention, what l claim is- 1. The needleprovided with the hook a, in combination with the pivoted stitch-holderb, having its front end arranged to lay in the recess in the shank ofthe needle when depressed and to come flushv with the upper surface ofthe hook a when raised, as shown in Fig. 3.

2. In combination with the needle and the pivoted stitch-holder b, asabove described, the spring o, to operate the latter, as shown anddescribed.

3. Operating the needle and stitch-holder by arranging them to move orslide longitudinally, and having the latter impinge against a cam or Xedpiece, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and as herein described.

J. M. ARMOUR.

Witnesses:

W. C. DODGE, .5

J AMES LEE.

